Using free videos can really enhance your video project by adding scenes and sequences that you can never shoot yourself.
Even if you’re a professional videographer, using free videos saves you so much time to be able to quickly download a video that’s right for your story instead of struggling to record footage yourself.
But what are the best free video sites? We selected them and explained each and what they offer.
What is royalty-free and an understanding of use rights
When we talk about free to use, we mean content that does not require royalties or licensing fees. So, in this case, it is content that you can use for free, without having to pay for commercial licenses.
The websites we will be showing will include free videos that you can use commercially, but not all content will have these rights. You may have to pay to access free content on these websites, or in some cases, the websites we display will have different attribution rights Sometimes you will be able to use some content, but you must indicate the author. In some cases, you may use the content, but only for non-commercial purposes.
While it is convenient to use the thousands of free videos from the websites listed below, there are some additional inconveniences because you have to take care to respect all content rights set by the original content creators.
Coverr
Coverr is a great platform if you’re looking for free content that can be used for free for both commercial and non-commercial use. As stated in the licensing FAQ, all videos published on Coverr are free to use and you don’t need to provide credit or ask permission to use any content.
The only limitation for the Coverr license is that you cannot take videos from Coverr and directly sell that content elsewhere, such as another video stock website, which makes sense to us.
There are thousands of videos on Coverr, and you can even find more unique formats like vertical video for smartphones or Zoom virtual background videos.
Pixabay
Pixabay is primarily an image website, so the video category may not be as large as other websites. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t find good footage on Pixabay. Like Coverr, you can freely use all videos and photos on Pixabay without any link or credit. This also includes commercial use.
If you’re ever unsure, Pixabay’s license is listed next to any video or photo before you hit the download button.
Pexels
Pexels is another great resource for free videos and photos. Pexels license allows you to use all content on Pexels for free without attribution. You can also use all Pexels content for commercial purposes. As expected, you cannot resell unmodified copies of videos or photos downloaded from Pexels.
In our experience, Pexels has been a great resource for finding photos and videos of people, so if you want to evoke certain emotions with your content, Pexels may be fine, but there are many other video content out there as well.
Videvo
Videvo is a great site if you’re looking for more than just videos. You can get free videos, music and sounds that will truly transform your project.
You have to be careful with Videvo because different licenses are used. When you visit the download page of any content, you will be provided with detailed license information. Look for a free license if you want full commercial access to content without attribution.
Some content on Videvo is available as a free plan, but other content requires a monthly membership. You can see on every video, sound or music download page whether they are available in free or premium plan.
Videezy
Videezy is another free stock website offering 4K video. Videezy has a similar structure to Videvo in that some of the content is available as a free plan and other content is only available to professional members. Fortunately, it’s easy to see what’s available for free – you’ll see a professional banner on all professional videos.
Videezy’s license rights are different for each video, but you can click the license rights on each download page.
You can use most of the videos on Videezy for commercial purposes, but you must provide the credit correctly as indicated on their licensing rights page. Otherwise, you can purchase exclusive rights to each video, so you don’t need to provide credit.
Storyblocks
If you want to get serious about video content, Storyblocks can be a good option. There is no free option, so it is clear that Storyblocks is targeted at those who already have an existing business that is profitable.
We think there are many great sources of free content for those who can’t afford it, but Storyblocks is an option for those looking to watch 4K video, HD content, and audio in a worry-free manner.
You can watch over 800,000 videos, and you will have commercial access to all without attribution. Storyblocks also has a corporate option for large businesses.
Envato
Envato is a platform that spans several different areas of creativity, but with an Envato subscription, you can access it all. This includes the commercial use of video files, fonts, 3D models, website designs, and photographs.
If you don’t want to pay, you can sign up for a free account and access 12 free files every month. Alternatively, you can subscribe to a monthly subscription and get unlimited access to download any of over 900,000 video files. This subscription also gives you access to 50 million stock photos and all sorts of other creative resources.
For many, a single Envato subscription can be worth the price because of all the other features like fonts and web design that are added. You can also find offers for Enterprise and Team subscriptions, but prices may vary by region.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock is perhaps the most famous stock website in the world. This is one of the best options if you want the largest library of free content that you can use without credit and commercially.
However, you will have to pay a license fee to access Shutterstock’s growing library of royalty-free stock videos, photos and music. Shutterstock may be the most extensive library, but also the most expensive.
Pricing may vary for each region, but in the UK the price is £ 125 for 10 clip downloads per month or £ 159 for 20 clip downloads per month. Alternatively, you can buy sets of clips, which does not require you to make an annual commitment, but the price per clip will be higher.
Distill
Distill is another free video site, but they are somewhat limiting in how they offer content. Users can download 10 HD videos every 10 days. Distill is newer than other platforms, so their offer isn’t that great, but you can quickly filter clips by categories such as food, city, technology, or animals.
Distill licenses all of its content under a Creative Commons Zero license, which means you can use the content as you see fit, for commercial use, and without attribution.
Mazwai
Mazwai is slightly different from other stock sites. Typically, users submit their own content fully knowing which licenses will apply. With Mazwai, videos are hand-selected by the website owners.
Videos are still owned and submitted by users, but the content you see is curated more than other websites. Fortunately, all Mazwai content is free for commercial use under their license. As always, be sure to check the license next to each file first, as some files will require attribution.
Summary
It’s safe to say that as the creative industries have developed in recent years, more and more free video content has surfaced on the Internet. We think you’ll happily get what you need for free on most of these websites, but subscribing to websites like Storyblocks, Shutterstock, or Envato can be helpful for existing businesses looking for larger libraries of content.
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